


All accounted for

by Lokomotiv



Series: Broke!Steve [1]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-13
Updated: 2015-01-13
Packaged: 2018-03-07 11:09:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3172240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lokomotiv/pseuds/Lokomotiv
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It hadn’t been hard to feign surprise and amazement as he told the team a carefully censored version of what the Governor had told him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All accounted for

**Author's Note:**

> Set at the end of episode 1.15 (Kai e'e/Tidal Wave).

> _She wanted to thank us. Actually, she wanted to congratulate us on another job well done. Twenty-eight million; it’s all present and accounted for. The money’s all there._
> 
> Steve McGarrett (Kai e'e) 

“Lieutenant commander.”

“Governor.”

Steve stood at parade rest; hands behind his back and gaze forward, focused slightly above her shoulder. He thought about the ocean. He would miss it, if he went to jail.

“Do you know why you’re here?”

“Yes ma’am, I think I do.”

He kept his mind on the waves, the way he had so many times at various places around the world. It wasn’t the first time he was afraid he’d never see them again.

“That’s good. Then you’ll be glad to hear it’s been covered.”

Steve’s eyes snapped to hers before he could stop himself. Suddenly he wasn’t as sure he knew what this conversation was about after all. The raise of her elegantly formed eyebrow clearly conveyed her satisfaction at his surprise. Steve tore his gaze away, mentally berating himself for letting it show, and for going into this meeting too sure about how it would play out. Falling back into his posture again he quickly tried to think of other possible reasons for her to have arranged this meeting. He couldn’t really come up with any.

“Ma’am?” he said, neutrally.

Since he didn’t know what she was talking about (but most likely not the stolen money after all), he didn’t want to give anything away without further intel. The Governor watched him for a few moments, then sighed and shook her head lightly. When she spoke, she did so slowly, as if explaining something to a child.

“The money’s all there. All twenty-eight million of it.”

For the second time during this short conversation Steve was blindsided, but this time he thought he managed not to react overtly. He hated that she could make him feel exposed with the way she watched him so closely.

“It took some creative juggling of assets on my part, but it’s all present and accounted for.”

The silence stretched out, and Steve realized she was waiting for him to respond. Steve met her eyes, deliberately this time. Studying her, he realized that a second carefully neutral _ma’am_ wouldn’t help; he would have to admit to being lost if he wanted her to be explicit. She wanted that win.

“I’m sorry Governor, I don’t understand,” he made himself say.

Since he was watching her carefully he noticed the small, satisfied smile that flicked across her face before she put on an exasperated expression and finally explained.

“The money you _borrowed_ , Steve, the ten million I wouldn’t give you. It’s been covered.”

Steve kept his eyes on her even as his mind was spinning with the realization that she’d _known_ , and apparently for quite some time. His expression, or his silence, must have given away something of his confusion, because she gave a short laugh before she continued.

“Come on, you must have known I knew you’d figure out some way to get the money. If nothing else, don’t you think I would have investigated when Detective Kelly was mysteriously released and nobody could explain why?”

“But why didn’t you-”

“Plausible deniability.”

Her tone was short, the words carrying a sting of genuine disapproval. And he had to agree with her; he should have figured that one out, he shouldn’t have had to ask.

“Yes ma’am.”

She nodded, accepted this tacit admission as her second win. Steve resigned himself to the probability that it wouldn’t be her last in this conversation, given how it had gotten away from him very soon after their first greetings and how his attempts to catch up to it ever since had all been in vain.

“This latest development is problematic, however. As I said, the money’s all there, but it’s possible to trace my involvement in how ten million of it got there. This, in turn, of course leads the fact that it wasn’t there to begin with. If someone were to start digging, these two things could reflect very badly on both of us.”

“All right, I get that,” Steve said, nodding. “So what’s the plan?”

He had to assume she had one, of course, and he tried to focus on that. It was harder than it should have been, because the realization that he probably weren’t going to jail was just starting to sink in, and the relief was surprisingly acute. It also turned out to be very short-lived.

“You are going to have to pay it back,” the Governor stated calmly, as if that made any sense at all.

Steve stared at her, for once not even trying to hide his shock.

“I- I don’t have that kind of money,” he stammered out.

She knew that, had to know that. So why would she dangle that possibility in front of him knowing that it was impossible? Unless, of course, she just wanted that win too. He was so absorbed in trying to figure out her end game he almost missed what she said next. _Focus_ , he scolded himself furiously.

“I know Steve, don’t be ridiculous.”

Again he could sense her disappointment in him, it seemed to roll off her in waves. He refrained from responding, and again the Governor sighed and explained slowly.

“I don’t expect you to pay it all back, but it has to seem like I’m trying to make you. That way, if someone takes a closer look, what they will see is that I sanctioned your use of the money, albeit unofficially, and that I am now punishing you for loosing it. In a way that keeps you out of jail, mind you, and able to keep doing your job.”

“I-” Steve started, but broke off. “Thank you.”

There was really nothing else he could say.

“Well, you _are_ very good at your job. Which also reflects back on me, so.”

He nodded.

”I will set up payment plans for you and your team. In essence I’ll be cutting your pay, and the money will go to filling any gaps left by the transfers I had to make in a hurry.”

Steve thought about his team waiting for him outside the office. The way they had shown up to support him had been both unexpected and heart-warming. He knew what he had to do, and even though he didn’t really want to ask the Governor for more than she’d already done for him, he would. For them. He swallowed and cleared his throat awkwardly, not really sure how to put his request.

“Governor,” he started.

“Yes, Commander.”

“I am grateful for what you are doing. Really, thank you for being so understanding.”

He trailed off. She watched him in silence. He decided to just go for it; she had the upper hand regardless.

“I would like to leave the rest of my team out of this.”

“Really? Were you not all involved in taking the money?”

She sounded curious, but not really surprised. Again, she’d been way ahead of him, he supposed. She probably had figured out already what he would say next, but he had to say it regardless.

“I take full responsibility for my team’s actions that day. It was my call, and I made it.”

The Governor studied him, and he met her gaze steadily. She didn’t say anything.

“I have some savings,” he added as the silence stretched out. “I will make one big payment to start off with, and take double whatever pay cut you were thinking of.”

He held his face impassive as she kept her eyes on him. Suddenly and unexpectedly, she smiled.

“You really are something else Steve,” she said fondly. “It’s a deal. I’ll send you the payment details.”

Steve let out a silent breath.

”And I would like to congratulate you on a job well done today,” the Governor went on without pause. ”I am impressed with your dedication, and that of your team. I realize that you had to make a hard choice today, and I thank you for your service and the integrity you’ve shown by making the right one. Despite the negative consequences you so obviously were expecting.”

“Just doing what’s right, ma’am.”

He included taking the money in the first place in that statement, and the way she smiled slightly in response told him she’d caught that.

“All right,” she said.

Another silence spread between them, and Steve wondered if he’d been dismissed and missed it. That would be so completely in line with the rest of this conversation.

“Well go on then. Your team is waiting.”

Apparently he had. Steve nodded once and started walking towards the door, but stopped and turned back towards her as she spoke again.

“Commander.”

“Governor?”

“What are you going to tell them?”

He considered for a moment.

“The truth. Parts of it.”

…

It hadn’t been hard to feign surprise and amazement as he told the team a carefully censored version of what the Governor had told him. He’d still been a bit stunned by the fact that he wouldn’t be going to jail. When he saw his own relief reflected on their faces, he thought back to what Danny had said earlier. _We have been crossing the line a little too easily lately, all right, and now it looks like we are going to pay for it._ Despite Danny’s use of (and emphasis on) the plural pronoun, they’d both known who was ultimately responsible for setting, as Danny liked to put it, the level of insanity within the team. Not only in that particular instance ( _high, very high_ ), but in general. In light of that he felt that maybe this was the best thing that could have happened. It had been a scare for all of them, but the long-term consequences were his to handle alone, the way they should be. He was the one leading the team across the line, so it was only appropriate he was the one to pay for it. Quite literally in this case, as it turned out.


End file.
